


Chimera

by ImBadWithWords



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Gen, Genetic Engineering, Hurt/Comfort, peter is v new to organized evil don't judge him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 09:57:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9229586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImBadWithWords/pseuds/ImBadWithWords
Summary: Somehow Tony knew, even before he picked up the phone, that something was wrong.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Can we just.....ignore the fact that I haven't posted in months? School is a _lot_ , guys. But I'm thinking that if I stick to shorter works then I hopefully post more frequently!
> 
> (Also, anyone else still screaming over the Homecoming trailer?)

Tony didn’t hear the buzz of his phone over the news report on TV, but from the corner of his eye he saw the screen light up with a picture: Peter, a look of bewilderment on his face as the project in front of him spat sparks. Tony smirked at the candid and tapped “Answer Call”.

“What’s up, kid?” he said, raising the phone to his ear. “You usually text.”

 _“They’re not human, Mr. Stark,”_ a tight voice whispered back. It sounded panicked, out of breath. Tony tensed.

“What’s going on?” he asked, rising to his feet and searching the room for his mobile armor. 

 _“I-I don’t know.”_ There was a crash in the background; Peter inhaled sharply. He started again after a tense minute.  _“I was– Th-there were rumors about– about some sort of drug or-or steroid or something that was about to hit the streets. So I started to look into it, because of course I did, even though I had no idea what I was doing, or what was going on, or how dangerous it was, or–”_

“Peter, I need you to breathe,” Tony interrupted. He stalked to the window as if he’d be able to see Peter from the top of Avengers Tower. His hand fisted in his hair, pulling at the roots. “Tell me where you are.”

There was a long silence as Peter tried to catch his breath.

 _“I don’t know,”_ he finally said.  _“I broke into a distribution warehouse in Brooklyn, but– I think they were waiting for me.”_ Tony’s stomach rolled.  _“There was some sort of gas they hit me with. I-I passed out and woke up in a lab. I managed to break out, but there are guys with guns everywhere. But they’re not– something’s_ wrong _with them, Mr. Stark.”_

“Wrong how, Peter?” Tony put the phone on speaker and placed it on the table. “FRIDAY, track the signal.”

_“Their faces are…deformed. They look like–like the aliens that invaded a few years ago. The Chitauri.”_

Tony scrubbed a hand over his face. “Are you somewhere safe? Can they get to you?”

 _“I’m hiding in a closet,”_ Peter laughed, though the sound was weak and shaky.  _“As long as no one needs toilet cleaner I might be okay.”_

 _“I’ve found the signal’s location, Boss.”_ FRIDAY displayed a marker in lower Manhattan.

“Good work. Peter, I can be there in less than ten minutes, alright? I’m going to call in backup on the way over.” Tony took the phone with him as he strode over to the launch pad. He stole a last glance at the picture on the call screen before the armor folded around him and the call transferred to his helmet display. “You hang in there. Do whatever it takes to hold out until I get to you, you got that?”

There was no answer.

“Peter?”

He heard faint footsteps on the other end of the line. Tony jetted away from the Tower just as Peter’s low breathing picked up, coming in short, panicked gasps.

Peter screamed.

“Kid?!” Tony yelled. “What’s going on?!”

Sounds of fighting echoed over the phone; right next to him and yet he was still too far away to help. He heard a yelp of pain. The call ended abruptly.

“FRIDAY, divert all energy to boosters,” Tony demanded.

_“Boss–”_

_“Do it!”_ Tony shot forward at full speed. His heart hammered in his chest, his lungs constricting with every second. Worst-case scenarios flashed through his mind. Every single one of them ended bloody.

He cut the ten minute flight time down to seven, but it still felt too late as he slammed to the ground in front of a two-story office building. It looked ordinary enough, but he didn’t hesitate to burst through the doors. A man at the receptionist desk startled so hard he fell from his chair.

“Scan the building,” Tony barked. FRIDAY pulled up blueprints on the HUD and highlighted the elevator.

_“Blueprints show a high-speed elevator in the rear, despite the building having only two floors, suggesting–”_

“An underground facility,” Tony finished. “FRIDAY, send whatever Avengers are in the area and alert the boys in blue.”

_“Understood.”_

Tony walked to the elevator, studying it. “Which floor is it on now?”

_“The second, Boss.”_

“Perfect.” Tony pried open the doors then looked down. Sure enough, the shaft continued on for at least six more floors. “Shit,” he muttered. “See if you can the floors, search for anything that could indicate where Spidey is. An area with higher security, somewhere damaged that might have seen a fight, anything.”

_“On it.”_

He dropped into the shaft and hovered in front of the doors to the next level down. He almost ripped the doors away as he burst through.

He wasn’t alone.

“Holy shit, the kid was right,” Tony breathed. “They’re monsters.”

Four figures lined the hallway. Whatever they were, they had once been human, but their jaws were elongated and their eyes were sunken, their skin a sickly gray-green. The closest one on Tony’s right snarled and lunged and he shot it down with a repulsor blast. The next three he felled in seconds.

“FRIDAY, what the hell are these things?” he asked.

_“Scans indicate physiology similar to that of the Chitauri that invaded during the Battle of New York. However, they appear to have mainly human characteristics.”_

“Seems Peter was spot-on,” Tony said. “What the hell has he gotten himself into?”

He strode down the hall, glancing into various rooms on either side, but found nothing.

_“Boss, I’ve had no luck searching the other floors. It seems they’ve been lined with lead.”_

“About par of the course with this place. Guess we’re doing this manually.”

——

Peter’s head ached. Whatever the gas had been, whatever they’d drugged him with, it wasn’t agreeing with him.

His limbs were loose and uncoordinated, no help in getting away from the lab technicians carrying him toward what he was pretty sure was certain doom.

“Y’know, in proper hospitals they have  _gurneys,”_ he slurred. “Not all this dragging nonsense.”

The techies ignored him. Of course. He would ignore his panicked babbling too, given the chance.

“Also, is this covered by my health insurance? Just kidding. I don’t think I _have_ health insurance.”

He would be hyperventilating if the air wasn’t moving in and out of his lungs like pudding. As it was, getting enough oxygen was a challenge. Talking was making him light-headed.

“Oh, yay, the lab again,” he muttered as they pulled him back into the room where he’d woken up. “I was starting to miss this place. Not.”

The two men lifted him up and dropped him into a not-at-all-intimidating dentist-type chair. One of them tried to shackle his wrist in the metal restraint.

“Easy, pal, not so rough!” Peter said, jerking away. His heart hammered against his rib cage. “Worst bedside manner ever. I’m giving you a one star review on Yelp.”

The lab tech tried again, baring his teeth as he manhandled Peter’s arm. 

“Hold still, you little brat,” he growled. Peter struggled, but his drugged body was no use. The man secured his wrist and moved around to the next one.

Peter followed him with his eyes and noticed the other man preparing an IV filled with a thick, black liquid.

“What is that?” he asked, his voice rising. Techie #1 grabbed his arm and Peter had to tear his eyes away from the IV. “Get off of me!”

Peter tugged his wrist close to his chest, pulling Techie #1 across his body. He tried to get out of the chair, but the man held him down by the shoulders. Techie #2 approached with needle in hand.

“A simple experiment,” he explained, as if demonstrating a baking-soda volcano. “Chitauri DNA manipulated to fuse with that of humans. I’m interested to see the effect on someone enhanced such as you are.”

“Don’t touch me with that thing!” Peter’s head swam. His breath came in pants and his whole body shook. “Get away from me!”

Techie #1 succeeded in pinning Peter down. His partner moved to insert the needle in the crook of Peter’s elbow. Even with the adrenaline coursing through his veins, Peter was weakening.

“Stop,” he panted. “Stop!”

The door burst open. Iron Man raised his repulsors and shot both lab technicians. Their bodies fell to the floor.

Tony’s face plate raised as he hurried to Peter’s side. Peter didn’t realize how badly his hands were shaking until he tried to reach over with his free hand to break the restraint.

“I got it, I got it,” Tony said, twisting the metal off and helping Peter upright. “Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?”

“No,” Peter breathed. “They– I–” He looked back at the bodies on the ground. For some reason, tears built in his eyes. He pressed his hands against his face and tried to stifle his harsh breathing.

“Hey, hey, calm down, they can’t hurt you anymore,” Tony assured him, voice gentle. The armor unfolded from around him and he stepped out. He pulled Peter into a hug. “You’re safe. It’s okay.”

Peter clung onto the back of Tony’s shirt. When his breathing had settled and the shaking had subsided somewhat, he leaned back. Tony offered a small smile.

“Let’s get you out of here, huh?”


End file.
